Date Published:
14 November 2006 |
AMA issues recommendations to improve the emergency care system
Recognizing that access to emergency and trauma care system in this country
is approaching a crisis point, the American Medical Association (AMA) today
issued recommendations to meet this problem head on.
" The AMA is committed to ensuring all patients have access to
emergency services,” said Peter W. Carmel, MD, AMA Board Member.
“ These
recommendations will increase patients' access to emergency care physicians
and improve the
quality of care provided."
The recommendations involve multiple strategies to advance emergency and trauma
care and include:
- Advocating for the creation and funding of additional residency training positions
in specialties that provide emergency and trauma care to increase the physician
workforce;
- Working to ensure payment to physicians from insurers for providing
emergency care regardless of in-network or out-of-network patient status;
- Securing bonus payments for physicians providing emergency services in
physician shortage areas, and advocating for federal and state liability
protection
for emergency physicians;
- Improving the efficiency of emergency care by identifying best practices
for the staffing, delivery and financing of emergency services.
According
to a 2006 report from the Institute of Medicine, the increased demand for
emergency care — up about 18 percent between 1995 and 2003 — has
resulted from increasing numbers of patients with limited access to health
care providers, including the uninsured and Medicare beneficiaries.
The recommendations were adopted today during the AMA’s policy-making
meeting in Las Vegas. They are based on an in-depth analysis of the current
state of emergency care by the American College of Surgeons, American Academy
of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, American College of Emergency
Physicians, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Society
of Plastic Surgeons, Society for Vascular Surgery and the Society of Thoracic
Surgeons.
News is included
on the IvyRose website to inform visitors about current health issues,
but not to endorse
any particular
view or activity. The views stated in the article above are not
necessarily those of IvyRose Ltd.. Material in this news item was released
by
the American Medical Association (AMA) on 14 November
2006 and may have been edited (e.g. in style, length, and/or for
ease
of understanding
by our international readers) for inclusion here. For further information,
please visit their website using the link below.
|
